لخّصلي

Dong!” went the clock again.

She looked up again. “Oh, my!” she cried out. “It is almost midnight!”
“Dong!” rung the clock.

“Why does that matter?” said the Prince.
“Dong!” called the clock.
“I must go!” said Cinderella.

“Dong!” went the clock.
“But we just met!” said the Prince. “Why leave now?”
“Dong!” rung the clock.
“I must GO!” said Cinderella. She ran to the steps.

ong!” said the clock.
“I cannot hear you,” said the Prince. “The clock is too loud!”
“Dong!” rung the clock.
“Goodbye!” said Cinderella. Up, up the stairs she ran.
“Dong!” went the clock.
“Please, stop for a moment!” said the Prince.
“Oh, dear!” she said as one glass slipper fell off her foot on the stair. But Cinderella kept running up.

Thank you, Artist Carla Oly

“Dong!” said the clock.
“Please wait a moment!” said the Prince.

“Dong!” rung the clock.
“Goodbye!” Cinderella turned one last time. Then she rushed out the door.
“Dong!” The clock was quiet. It was midnight.

“Wait!” called the Prince. He picked up her glass slipper and rushed out the door. He looked around but could not see her blue dress anywhere. “This is all I have left from her,” he said, looking down at the glass slipper. He saw that it was made in a special way, to fit a foot like none other. “Somewhere there is the other glass slipper,” he said. “And when I find it, I will find her, too. Then I will ask her to be my bride!”
From hut to hut, from house to house, went the Prince. One young woman after another tried to fit her foot inside the glass slipper. But none could fit. And so the Prince moved on.
At last the Prince came to Cinderella’s house.

“He is coming!” called one step-sister as she looked out the window.
“At the door!” screamed the other step-sister.

“Quick!” yelled the stepmother. “Get ready! One of you must be the one to fit your foot in that slipper. No matter what!”
The Prince knocked. The stepmother flew open the door. “Come in!” she said. “I have two lovely daughters for you to see.”
The first step-sister tried to place her foot in the glass slipper. She tried hard, but it just would not fit. Then the second step-sister tried to fit her foot inside. She tried and tried with all her might, too. But no dice.
“Are there no other young women in the house?” said the Prince.
“None,” said the stepmother.
“Then I must go,” said the Prince.
“Maybe there is one more,” said Cinderella, stepping into the room.
“I thought you said there were no other young women here,” said the Prince.
“None who matter!” said the stepmother in a hiss.
“Come here,” said the Prince.

Cinderella stepped up to him. The Prince got down on one knee and tried the glass slipper on her foot. It fit perfectly! Then, from her pocket Cinderella took out something. It was the other glass slipper!
“I knew it!” he cried. “You are the one!”
“WHAT?” shouted a step-sister.

“Not HER!” screamed the other step-sister.
“This cannot BE!” yelled the stepmother.

But it was too late. The prince knew that Cinderella was the one. He looked into her eyes. He did not see the cinders in her hair or the ashes on her face.
“I have found you!” he said.
“And I have found you,” said Cinderella.
And so Cinderella and the Prince were married, and they lived happily ever after.